Method of vitaminizing fermented beverages



Dec. 5, 1944. M, w, DrrTo' Er AL 2,364,060

METHOD oF VITAMINIZING' FERMEINTED BEVERAGES y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May '7, 1941 MWD/Zo, I .R regioni,

Torr

Dec. 5 1944.

I M. w. D11-'ro ETAL METHOD OF VITMINIZING FERMENTED BEEHAGES Filed May '7, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A D15/6&0, Vl. R .Torri/m9150110' `Patented Dec. 5, 1944 UNITED STATES Arrrlezm" OFFICE` METHOD oF VITAMINIZING FERMENTEn EvEaAGEs.

Marvin W. Ditto and William P. Torrington, New York, N. Y., assignors to Emulsions Process Corporation, New York Delaware N. Y., a corporation of Application May 7 1941, Serial No. 392,360

9- Claims. ('Cl. 99-11) This invention relates to the lmanufacture of fermented malt beverages,such as beer, and the primary object of the invention is to produce vitaminized beer or the like during the conventional manufacture of malt beverages.

It is recognized that the present-day tendency toward the rening of foods )has resulted in. a

situation where the average foods that are highly refined are seriously lacking in many of the necessary physiologically active compounds known as vitamins. A good illustration of this is that occurring in the milling industry where the lsocalled white ours contain only approximately one tenth of the tniamin normally contained in whole wheat flour. This condition, along with the fact the majority of foods prepared by boiling in water,

also results in significant losses of these various water-soluble vitamins, has produced a situation Vwhere theaverage American diet isa borderline diet, as far as most vitamins are concerned, 'and particularly in regard to those comprising the water-soluble B complex group.

ThisY condition has been recognized by the British Government which recently passed legislation requiring that all white flour have` added to ita predetermined amount of thiamin or B-l.

There is at the present time in the United States pending proposals for addition of these various vitamins to the White flour in this country. This same condition is also present in the case of fermented beverages such as whiskey, beer and wine. In all of these beverages there is present a substantial calory value with little or no vitamins. In Vthe case of ,distilled liquors it can readily be seenv how the distillation would eliminate any physiological active salts; in the case of beer and wine, the source material from which o is now being discarded, so as to secure from this yeast the vitamins that have been abstracted from the original material by the yeast during fermentation, for re-incorporation into the beer.

While it has been proposed to add synthetic vitamins to the iinished beer, this is not as satisfactory as the addition of the natural vitamins obtained from the yeast. In the first place, of

the total B complex group comprising an unknown number of factors, there has been at the present time, only five of these vitamins synthesized; therefore the total complex could not -be secured from a synthetic source.

In the second place, the use of synthetic vitamins couldnot compare in price to the vitamins that could be .secured from the residue yeast,

Y which is now a waste product as far as the brewing industry is concerned.

In view of the fact these Water-soluble B complex vitamins are present within these yeast cells, these cells must be effectively opened or otherwise altered so that the intracellular material can be recovered in a substantially unaltered condition. Before this isV done it is necessary that the residue yeast be in some measure separated from the. other inert material present, such as hop they are made `contain rather large amounts of these various vitamins of the B group. These are removed during fermentation by the yeast cells which store thesevitamins within the cellular structurefof the cells, and are used by these y cells in their metabolic-process. Therefore, in the beers and wines manufactured today and claried by bright filtration which frees them of yeast cells, there is present little or no vitamins of the B complex group.

- It is now recognized that these refined foods should be reinforced with those vitamins that have been removed in processing, or if possible the processing should be changed so that they will not be destroyed and can be secured in the final product in an unaltered form. Therefore, in the brewing industry there is -a rational reason for the treatment of the residue yeast that leaves, hop seeds, and other impurities that would cause turbidity or off-taste in the final product.l

first portion of the apparatus up to and including the carbonating tank.`

Fig. 1a is a similar view of the tion of the apparatus.

Referring to Fig. 1 of thedrawings, 3 is a conremaining porventional open or closed fermenter used in the brewing of beer. After fermentation of the beer wort is completed, the yeast-settles to the bottom 4of the fermenting tank and is discharged by a line 2 into a mixing tank I (according to our process), where it is agitated with an'equa'l -weight of water (preferably at room temperature) introduced through pipe I. After the residue yeast and water have been uniformly mixed in the tank 4, the mixture is forced by a pump 5 through aseries of strainers S'which remove the inert taining the mixture under pressure.

solids, the :filtered yeast slurry is then passed from the strainers to a centrifuge 8 in which it is freed of water beforev being discharged through a chute 9 into a second mixing tank I0. The material passing through the chute is in the form of a heavy cake containing approximately 20% water. The wash water from the centrifuge is discharged through a line 3'I leading to any suitable point of use or disposal.

In the tank I0, the Washed yeast cake is mixed with an equal Weight of green beer forced from the fermenter by a pump 'I through line 35 and In tank I the green beer and yeast cake are thoroughly agitated and mixed before being forced into a dispersion mill I3 by pump I4 at a pressure of approximately 100 pounds per square inch. The mill I3 is preferably of the type disclosed in the M. W. Ditto Patent 2,169,339, dated August 15, 1939, as such a mill is capable of subjecting materials to violent turbulence, impact and shear, and therefore finely dispersesI the ingredients, within one another.

Nutrient or CO2 in sufficient amount to effect carbonation of the mixture is introduced into the mill through line I2, simultaneously with the yeast slurry. After the nutrient or CO2 is thoroughly mixed with the yeast, slurry, the mixture is discharged through line I6 at a pressure of approximately 100 pounds per square inch into a soaking or carbonating tank I capable of main- Such tank should be of sulcient size so that the mixture may be detained therein for an effective time period to effect thorough carbonation of the yeast slurry at the temperature and pressure existing in the tank. The desirable temperature is in the neighborhood of 32 F. and 'is below 40 F. Such temperature may be maintained by passing brine or some other suitable cooling agent through a coil I5a positioned in the tank I5.

When the yeast slurry has been thoroughly carbonated, it is withdrawn from the tank by means of a pump Il (Fig. la) which increases the pressure on the carbonated yeast slurry to a relatively high superatmospheric pressure, for eX- ample, between 1000 and 3000 pounds per square inch. After the pressure is increased, the temperature of the carbonated yeast slurry is raised to approximately 125 F. in a tubular heater I8 which may be heated by steam conducted through the lineA I9. After the carbonated yeast slurry has been heated, it is discharged from the region of high pressure and temperature into a vacuum chamber 38, in which is carried a vacuum of approximately 27 referred to 30 barometer. The vacuum is maintained by a suitable pump (not shown) connected to the pipe 2l.

When the carbonated yeast slurry is discharged into tank 38, the CO2 and some Water vapor are trifuge 28 where the mixture is again separated` into a supernatant liquid and extracted cake; the supernatant liquid being passed from the centrifuge to the tank 3| through pipe 30 and the extracted yeast cake being discharged through chute'33. The extracted cake can be disposed of or can be dried and used as a supplement to cattle or stock food.

The vitaminized green beer which is com- ,rmingled in the tank 3| is passed from such tank by a pump 32 through a centrifuge 34 which functions as a lter or clarier, and from the centrifuge the green beer is passed into the line 35. I t combines with the remainder of the green beer resulting from the original fermentation before such green beer 'enters the storage tank 36.

After the desired aging period, the treated beer is then removed from tank 3E and subjected to the customary filtration and nishing treatment which has no effect on the water soluble vitamins with which the beer is fortied.

Some of the iprocedure outlined-herein has been' heretofore disclosed in Patents 2,190,689 and o 2,223,501, granted to W. P. Torrington. These 0 words, We Will employ certain features of such released and pass off through spipe 2| and this 30 sudden release of pressure functions to alter or rupture the walls of the yeast cells so that the enzymes and other intracellular material contained within the cells are released into the slurry. The treated slurry is continuously removed from the bottom of the vacuum tank by a pump 22 which forces the same into a centrifuge where the supernatant liquid or vitaminized green beer is separated from the cellular debris; the supernatant liquid being conducted through line 29 into a receiving tank- 3I`. The residue yeast cake is periodically discharged from the centrifuge through a chute 24 into a third mixing tank 25 where it is mixed with another portion of the green beer from the fermenter, conducted patented methods to treat the residue yeast as well as a portion or fportions of the green beer whereby the latter will act as an extracting agent in the removal of the vitamins from the residue yeast. The yeast extract resulting from this treatment will be in its natural form as present in the yeast cells and will not have any olf odor or taste due to changes such as will occur during other commonly used methods of extraction such as autolysis, chemical treatment, or heating the yeast above the temperature of coagulation.

By way of further explanation we give the following example.

, In the brewing of beer the usual practice is to pitch 1 lb. of yeast from a previous fermentationv to each 31 gallon barrel of Wort. This yeast is in the form of a heavy slurry containing approximately 10 to 12% yeast computed on dry weight basis. After fermentation is completed, the resulting yeast crop increases to 3 to 4 pounds of this 12% slurry. One pound of this yeast crop is required for pitching the succeeding fermentation, so ythere is available per barrel of beer approximately 3 pounds of yeast slurry or lb. per barrel of beer of yeast by dry weight. This residuelcontains beside yeast, other impurities such as hop seeds, 1eaves,'and protein matter which must be removed before this yeast is processed or the resulting product wouldI contain the passed through a series of strainers whose screen size progressively decreases, thereby freeing the yeast suspension from all particles above .004". This strained yeast suspension is freed of excess water in a basket-type centrifuge to a cake con-A taining approximately 20% yeast on a dry basis, or 11/2 lbs. of cake per barrel of beer. This yeast I cake can be further washed and debittered if considered necessary, this being dependent upon the character of the yeast and the methods under which it was grown. This 20% yeast cake, or that resulting from further washing, is then diluted with an equal weight of green beer secured from the same fermenter from which the yeast crop was removed. This results in 3 lbs. of a 10% yeast slurry which is then processed according to either of the above-mentioned Torrington patent'methods. Specilcally, in one method, this 10% yeast slurry is carbonated at 100 pounds per square inch with CO2 at a lowv temperature, slightly above C. When thoroughly carbonated,` this slurry is subjected to an increase in pressure and a temperature of approximately 125 F. From this temperature and pressure, it `is sprayed into a vacuum chamber, where the release of the CO2 and water vapor causes effective cellular wall alteration. This treated yeast slurry is then separated in a basket-type centrifuge into a supernatant liquid free of cell walls, and these are formed into a residue cake containing the cellular debris. This residue cake contains a considerable amount of intracellular vitamin material that is mechanically retained in the cake. It therefore is Washed with approximately three times its-weight of green beer and separated in a centrifuge for the second time. The supernatant lliquid from this second separation is then added to that from the first separation and may be added directly to the beer resulting from the same fermentation or it may be given an intermediate treatment such as flltration, centrifugal clarification, or other means to free it from suspended the final beer will contain above 80% of the original vitamins present in the material from which the original extract was made. The amount of liquid handled per barrel of beer is very small, amounting to approximately 3 lbs. of residue yeast and 5 lbs. of green beer, making a total of 8 lbs. of total liquid handled per 31 gallon barrel of beer of which 5.5 lbs. are added to the finished beer and 1.5 is the residue yeast cake containing approximately solids. This residue yeast cake after extraction can be dried and sold as a cattle food supplement.

Tests have shown that brewers yeast has a B-l potency that ranges from 20 to 60 I. U. per gram and a B2`of 20 to 40 gramma per gram. Assuming that the residue yeast has a vitamin potency of 50 I. U. of B-l per gram, and that there is aA .3 of a pound of dry yeast available per barrel of beer, the amount of vitamin B-l added perpint `of beer would be as follows;

B-l available per 31l gallon barrel from residue yeast 50 I. U./gm.

I .3 X 454 X :68 10 International units B1 per pint of nished beverage- 5448 x 22E- 21.9 Intcrnatlona] umts In our elforts to eliminate disadvantages found in the disclosures of the prior art, we have kept certain items in mind; rst, to eliminate any factors which would change the taste or flavor of the beer; and second, to eliminate any factors which, due to heat or chemical reaction, would change the characteristics of the vitamin products themselves. In doing this We have conceived a. process which may be directly incorporated with the brewing of beer as practiced in ordinary brewing plants. In the preferred procedure; a part of the beer during the brewing process is diverted from its normal fiow and mixedwith the surplus yeast produced in the brewing process, and then the yeast cells in the mixture are broken down and the intracellular material containing the vita- Y vmins extracted by using the diverted beer as an extracting agent before the diverted beer thus fortified is re-introduced'into the main batch of beer undergoing processing. It will therefore be understood that in the brewing practice for the y vitaminization of beer We are treatingthe surcompounds capable of feeding the yeast cells. A

balanced nutrient usually consists of a source of sugar and a number of inorganic chemicals.

Specifically, for our purpose, we generally usedextrose and do not botherabout having a balanced nutrient although it could be used, as we are mainly interested in securing a formation of CO2 lin tank I5, and there is usually enough reserve mineral matter in the yeast itself to take care of the short activation period. The time period necessary is to some extent dependent upon the temperature and would vary from approximately 20 minutes at 50 F. to three hours at 32 F. If CO2 is added in the tank I5, We can secure satisfactory results with a detention period of suflicient length to secure a complete saturation 4with CO2, at the operating temperature and pressure. When a mill of the type mentioned above is used for dispersion, this periodis very short and it is our belief that we will be able to operate continuously by dispersing CO2 in the yeast slurry at a low temperature by means of `the dispersion mill before conducting the mixture to the atomizing pump with a time period of only a very few This can be accomplished by using a lli and 25. Our primary reason for indicating that the green beer from the same batch is used with the residue yeast is to maintain a balance, so that all the vitamins removed by fermentation from one batch will be treated by green beer from that batch and added to the same beer from which the yeast is secured. Manifestly, this is not absolutely essential as a control could be set upA by Vusing yeast from any source and beer either green or furnished from any other source.

There is a distinct benefit tobe secured in the manufacture of malt beverages in addition to the extraction of the vitamin complexes, by the addition to the beverage of the protolytic enzymes present in the yeast extract.

When vitaminizing a fermented beverage such as wine or beer by our process, it is desirable that the amount of beverage that is diverted for processing be returned Ato the bulk of the beverage unchanged, that is, the alcohol content and percentage of Water should not be in any way varied by the treatment. Therefore, wev suggest a slight modification of the processing outlined as follows:

In the disclosed system, when the carbonated yeast slurry containing the percentage of alcohol present in the beverage from which the slurry is composed is atomized in-tank 38, the vacuum pump exhausting the vapor out of line 2i would remove a portion of the alcohol and water that would be ,flashed into vapor as a' result of the differential temperature and pressure. This would change the original concentration of alcohol if it were not returned to vacuum tank 38. Therefore, we propose that a reflux condenser (not shown) be used in line 2| soV that any water or alcohol vapor removed by the vacuum pump would be condensed and returned to tank 38, only the uncondensable gas being removed.

While we have disclosed what we now consider to be a preferred method of procedure, we are aware that changes may be made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a. method of producing a fermented :malt beverage, separating green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast, hop seeds, leaves, and other impurities which would tend to create turbidity and off taste in the finished beverage, mixing the thus purified yeast with a portion of the green beverage, substantially completely saturating such mixture with CO2, heating the carbonated mixture and subjecting it to high CO2 pressure, then suddenly releasing the pressure and thereby causing the yeastv cells to be ruptured, separating the CO2 and water vapor from the liquid mass, sepa.

rating a liquid fraction from the remainder of the liquid mass, and commingling said liquid fraction with a fermented malt beverage.

2. In a method of producing a fermented malt beverage, separating green fermented beverage substantially solid fraction, mixing said solid fraction with a larger portion of the green beverage and thereby making a second mixture, mechanically separating a second liquid fraction from said substantially solid fraction, commingling said first and second liquid fractions with the remaining portion of the green beverage, and then aging.

3. In a method of producing a fermented malt beverage, separating green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast, hop seeds, leaves, and other impurities which would tend to create turbidity and olf taste Y in the finished beverage, mixing the thus purified yeast with a portion of the green beverage approximately equal in weight to the purified yeast, substantially completely saturating such mixture with CO2, yheating the carbonated mixture and subjecting it to high CO2 pressure, then suddenly releasing the pressure and thereby causingvthe yeast cells to be ruptured, separating the CO2 and water vapor from the liquid mass, `'separating a liquid fraction from the remainder of the liquid mass, and commingling said fraction with a fermented malt beverage.

4. In a method of producing a fermented malt beverage, separating green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast, hop seeds, leaves, and other impurities which would tend to create turbidity and off taste in the finished beverage, mixing the thus purified yeast with a portion of the green beverage, substantially completely saturating such mixture with CO2, heating the carbonated mixture to approximately F. and subjecting the heated mixture to high CO2 pressure, then suddenly releasing the pressure and thereby causing the yeast cells to be ruptured, separating the CO2 and water vapor from the liquid mass, separating a liquid fraction from the remainder of the liquid mass, and commingling said liquid fraction with another portion of the green beverage.

5. In a method of producing a fermented malt beverage, separating green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast, hop seeds, leaves, and other impurities which would tend to create turbidity and oi taste in the iinished beverage, mixing the thus purified yeast with a portion of the green beverage, substantially completely saturating such mixture with CO2 at a pressure of 100 pounds per square inch and a. temperature slightly above 32 F., heating the carbonated mixture and subjecting it to high CO2 pressure, then suddenly releasing the pressure and thereby causing the yeast cells to be ruptured, separating CO2 and water vapor from the liquid mass, separating a liquid fraction from the remainder of the liquid mass, and commingling said liquid fraction with another portion of the green beverage.

6. In a method of producing a fermented malt beverage, separating green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast, hop seeds, Ieaves, and other impurities which would tend to create turbidity and oif taste in the finished beverage, mixing the thus purified yeast with a portion of .the green beverage, substantially completely saturating such mixture with CO2, heating the carbonated mixture and subjecting it to high CO2 pressure between 1,000 and 3,000 pounds per square inch, then suddenly releasing the pressure and thereby causing the yeast cells to be ruptured, separating the IC02 and water vapor from the, liquid mass, separatinga liquid beverage.

fraction from the remainder of the liquid mass, and commingling said liquid fraction with another portion of the green beverage.

'1. In a method of producing a fermented malt beverage, separating green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast, hop seeds,- leaves, and yother impurities which would tend to create turbidity and olf taste in the finished beverage, mixing the lthus purified yeast with a portion of the. green beverage, substantially completely saturating such mixture with CO2, heating the carbonated mixture and subjecting it to high CO2 pressure, then suddenly releasing the pressure and thereby causing the yeast cells to be ruptured, separating the C0: and water vapor from the liquid mass, fractionating said liquid mass into a liquid fraction andl a substantially solid fraction, mixing the substantially solid fraction with about three times its -weight of then separating from the substantially solid fraction the last mentioned green beverage with enzymes which it extracted from that fraction, and then commingling the last mentioned green beverage and said liquid fraction with still another portion of the green beverage.

8. In a method of producing a fermented beverage, separating green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast, hop seeds, leaves, and other impurities which wouldtend to create turbidity and oif taste in the ilnished beverage, mixing the thus puried yeast with a portion of the green beverage, substantially completely saturating such mixture with another portion of the green fermented malt CO2, while the mixture 'is at a pressure of about v100 pounds per square inch and a temperature slightly above 32" F., heating the carbonated mixture to a temperature of approximately 125 F. and subjecting it to a high CO2 pressure between 1,000 and 3,000 pounds per square inch, then suddenly releasing the pressure and thereby causing the yeast cells to be ruptured, separating the CO2 and water vapor from the liquid mass, separating a liquid fraction from the remainder of the liquid mass, and commingling said liquid fraction with another portion of thegreen beverage.

` 9. In a method of-producing a fermented malt beverage, separating the green fermented beverage from residue yeast, removing from said residue yeast hop seeds, leaves, andY other impurities.

which would tend to create turbidity and oif taste in the finished beverage, mixing the thus purified yeast with a portion of the green beverage, substantially completely saturating such mixture with CO: at a temperature of approximately 32 F. while maintaining the mixture at a pressure of about 100 pounds per square inch, heating the carbonated mixture and subjecting it to high CO2 pressure, then suddenly releasing the pressure to below atmospheric pressure and thereby causing the yeast cells to be ruptured, separating the C0: and the water vapor from the liquid mass,sepa rating a liquid fraction from the remainder of the liquid mass, and oommingling such liquid fraction with another portion of the green beverage.

MARVIN W. DITIO.

WILLIAM P. TORRINGTON. 

